25/4/40 Boyer Feed Mill Q. See the two photos
of a feed mill I am restoring. Cast into the top of the frame is
‘Farm Mill’ and ‘A. Proseus Patent.’ It also reads,
‘Warranted Cast Steel, Premium Farm Grist Mill, Manufactured by
Wm. L. Boyer & Br., Philadelphia, Pa.’ Any information on
this mill will be greatly appreciated.
When finishing an engine I suggest using a lacquer base spot
putty on larger pits and then immediately after wiping the filled
area with a rag and lacquer thinner. The wiping action works the
putty into the pits and removes the excess that otherwise would
have to be sanded away. After filling the pits I spray R-M Acrylic
Primer-Surfacer GP-75 Global Prime over all and spray any other
rough areas that need to be smoothed out with extra coats per the
directions on the can. Allow to dry and add the finish coats. This
method saves a lot of time. Bob Herder, RR 5, Box 121, Califon,
NJ 07830.
25/4/41 International Feed Grinder Q. Can
anyone supply the color scheme for the International Type B feed
grinder? G. Donald Eidman, 4424 Dormedy Hill Road, Marion, NY
14505.
25/4/42 Abenaque Engines
Dan Thomas, 495 Dustin Tavern Rd., Weare, NH 03281 is looking
for information on the early two-cycle Abenaque engines. This
engine may have been built as the Ostenburg engine.
Additionally, I would like to research the International Power
Vehicle Company. Any information on the above will be
appreciated.
25/4/43 Circular Sawmills
Your recent book entitled The Circular Sawmill was very
interesting. My great grandfather came from Massachusetts in 1840
or 1841 and established the first steam mill in this area (Corning,
New York). This was in conjunction with a wooden pail factory. He
started with vertical saws, but I have been unable to find when he
changed over to circular saws.
I owned a Belsaw mill in the 1930’s, but mine was a
lightweight model and totally unsuitable for heavy work. Their
better ones were probably better. They later merged with Foley to
form the Belsaw Foley Co. and I think they are still making
mills.
In 1940 I bought the mill I still use occasionally, a Carley No.
2, which is not to be confused with the Corley, which was much more
common. The patent date cast into the knee of the Carley is 1882. I
have sawed with it intermittently for 48 years and rebuilt the
woodwork twice. The husk is solid cast iron. An odd feature is that
both tracks are flat. The carriage wheels are flanged like small
railroad car wheels. This makes for tricky alignment. I know of but
one other mill of this make, and would like to hear of anyone
having information on the Carley mill. Howard F. Dow, RD 2, Box
304, Corning, NY 14830.
25/4/44 Loctite ‘Chisel
For the benefit of those having to remove baked-on gaskets and
oil, I have had good success with ‘Chisel’ made by Loctite
Corporation. It foams up and literally eats away the gasket, oil,
and dried-on paint with no effort.
Bruce Wittgren, 104 East 150 South, Valparaiso, IN
47383.
25/4/45 IHC ‘M’ Engine Q. Is the serial
number stamped on IHC Type M engines in addition to the nameplate
information? My nameplate is gone. M.D. Wasemiller, 30 W.
Hilton, Redlands, CA 92373.
25/4/46 Domestic Engine
Information is needed for a Domestic 4 hp sideshaft engine,
including the proper color scheme. Daniel Gehman, RD 2, Box
247, Stevens, PA 17578.
25/4/47 Bessemer Crossheads Q. I need to
correspond with anyone who has first hand experience in rebuilding
the crosshead shoes on a Bessemer engine. Call collect at
904-385-6676 or write Bob Burke, 775 Lakeshore Dr.,
Tallahassee, FL 32312.
25/4/48 C. H. & E. Engines Q. See the photo
of a C. H. & E, engine built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bore
is 4 ? inches and the stroke is 6 112 inches. What is the
horsepower? Can anyone provide any information on this company or
its engines? Jeff Holbrook, 1506 S. Adams, #212, Marshfield, WI
54449.
A. See answer in 25/4/49 below.
25/4/49 C. H. & E. Engines Q. Enclosed are
two photos of an engine that has been in our family for about 35
years. Of course I would like to know when the engine was built,
its proper color, the horsepower, and similar information.
As previously mentioned, it has been in our family for about 35
years. When my uncle purchased it for $10 in the early 1950’s
the engine powered a circular saw set in a massive timber
framework. Prior to its use to power the saw, it had been used to
pump water for agricultural irrigation. I would be happy to hear
from anyone having information. Richard A. Jeanne, 888 Keele
Drive, Reno, NV 89509.
A. We believe C. H. & E Manufacturing
Company at Milwaukee to still be in business, but have never
received a reply to past queries.
This company never seems to have entered the farm engine trade.
Instead, their efforts were directed to building heavy woodworking
machines, sometimes called combination machines for use in the
building trades. These outfits often consisted of a table saw, band
saw, shaper, and other devices all in a single unit, and powered by
a C. H. & E engine. The company also built ditch pumps and
other machinery powered with its own engines. Since these were
special duty engines, it was not necessary to build them to a
certain horsepower, although we would guess this engine to be in
the 4-6 horsepower range. Aside from bits and blurbs, we have had
little success in acquiring any material on this company. Perhaps
some of our readers are familiar with C. H. & E. and will be
able to fill in some missing spaces.
25/4/50 Birmingham Engine Q. See the enclosed
photos of a Birmingham engine I acquired last summer. It is a 5 hp
model built by White-Blakeslee at Birmingham, Alabama. So far I
have found very little information on the company. Any help will be
appreciated. Jerry T. McDowell, 1404 Kevin Lane, Greeneville.
TN 37743.
A. Our information on the company, consists of
some basic information as found on page 59 of American Gas Engines
.
25/4/51 Stover Engine Q. What is the year built
for a Stover engine, s/n TB202068? Dan Murphy, 18 Lance Drive,
Somers, CT 06071.
A.1929.
25/4/52 Overseas Engines
Mr. M. Hooyberg, Westdijk 12, 1463 PA Beemoter, Holland sends us
two photos of interesting European machines. Photo 52A illustrates
a Howard Rotary Hoe model GEM IV. It uses a two-cylinder, 9
horsepower engine, and was built about 1950. Photo 52B shows a
Bungartz FRNK tractor with a two-cycle Fichtel & Sachs engine.
This machine was built about 1958.
Mr. Hooyberg also sends along some photocopy material on the
Junkers engine. Some months ago the Reflector put out a call for
information on the single-cylinder model residing in our own
collection. Further information on the Junkers query will come in
the ‘Readers Write’ section to follow.
READERS WRITE
Junkers Engine
In the previous paragraph we noted Mr. Hooyberg’s copies of
material sent over to the Reflector. Curiously, this engine has
demonstrated a tremendous amount of response, particularly from
those in Europe and other continents. We have had letters from
England, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, and Germany regarding our
engine, and now comes a letter from New Zealand. Mr. D. Batchelor,
PO Box 118, Rangiora, North Canterbury, New Zealand writes that he
had a parts book for this engine. We’ve already applied to him
for a photocopy. Curiously, this particular manual is printed in
English. Thus it would appear that Junkers actually did sell or
attempt to sell the engine outside of Germany.
From the response we’ve had and letters from all over the
world, there is no doubt that GEM readers are really very special
people! Thanks to all of you!
25/2/26 Wico EK Magnetos
In reply to your comments, I can tell you that the armature
guide pin does indeed become worn on about 20% of the magnetos. It
was aggravated by the user’s not oiling the magneto
periodically according to the instructions. I have repaired many of
these by turning the pin undersize and bushing it back to standard
by epoxying a thin wall bushing over the pin. To accomplish the
machining I made a fork-shaped holder out of ? inch aluminum plate.
It picks up the two screw mounting holes in the casting. The tongue
of the fork is chucked up in a 4-jaw chuck and is adjusted until it
dials out to zero. The pin is then machined undersize as
required.
The armature hole can likewise be bored and sleeved back to
standard. Those readers interested in a drawing for the fork,
bushing, and sleeve dimensions can contact me with a self-addressed
and stamped envelope.
Coils, condensers, points, oil felts, and the armature roller
are all available from GEM advertisers. The
7/32 x 32 tpi screw that goes through the
roller is not available, but is easily fabricated by anyone with a
lathe.
I don’t fully agree with you that the Wico EK leaves
something to be desired. When you compare its performance and ease
of repair with the Bosch AB-33 and the Webster Tripolar, the EK
comes out ahead every time. It is simple, easy to repair with a
minimum of tools, the points are easy to set, and it will jump
spark across a .200 inch gap along with the best of them. Its very
popularity speaks for itself. On the negative side, the condensers
almost always need replacing, and the moving points frequently
receive a poor ground due to dirt, oil, and corrosion in the point
tube. Fortunately both problems are easily and inexpensively
corrected. Webster and Bosch AB33 problems are generally much more
difficult and expensive to repair. John Rex, 12 Gail Street,
Chelmsford, MA 01824.
25/1/53 Fairbanks-Morse
I am a former Fairbanks-Morse employee. These engines have been
built in Beloit since 1895, and still are today. Fairbanks-Morse
engines are used for ship propulsion, power plants, and oil
companies. The Chicago nameplate was one of their first sales
offices. Dan Burnstein, 1615 Schaller St., Janesville, WI
53546.
25/1/38 Canadian Engines
The Ontario Wind Engine & Pump Company (OWE&P) of
Toronto initially acted as agent for the Stickney engines. In
mid-1910, Stephen Chapman, president of OWE&P, was among a
group who established the Chapman Engine Company in Dundas,
Ontario. The Chapman engine was handled through OWE&P. A wide
range of sizes was offered, and these engines are not to be
confused with the Chapman engine made at Marcellus, Michigan. It
was an unrelated company. Chapman Engine Company got heavily
involved with war production during 1916-17, and totally
disappeared by 1918. Later, OWE&P offered the Toronto engine,
quite a different beast from the Chapman, and probably made in
their Toronto factory. Pictured in 25/1/38 is, I believe, one of
these later units.
In the January 1990 issue the Magnet engine and the Hoag Oil
Engine are also mentioned. All I know of the Magnet is that it was
built in Hamilton, Ontario. The Hoag was indeed built in Brantford,
Ontario from about 1918 to the mid-1920s. They were built in
several sizes from 3 ? to 18 hp under the Hvid license. Hoag was
part of the Kerr & Goodwin Company of Brantford and were also
local agents for the Happy Farmer tractors.
There were a great many companies producing gasoline engines
here in the industrial heartland of southern Ontario as well as in
Quebec. A great many were built under license from U.S. designs,
but many more were the result of home-bred designers. Remember that
Canada entered the World War at its beginning in 1914, and most
foundries, heavy machine shops and agricultural works shifted to
munitions work for Canadian and British military needs. Sadly, few
of these companies were able to concentrate on developing lines
started before the war, and fewer still were able to resume their
pre-war business after 1918. Rick Mannen, Box 62, Lynden,
Ontario L0R 1T0 Canada.
24/11/8 California Engine
To date I have had no response on this query. Could someone
advise the proper person to contact at the University of
California? Perhaps they could supply the needed information.
Mark Nedrow, PO Box 644, Selah, WA 98942.
Paint Colors
Frequent reference is made to DuPont Dulux paint colors.
However, I have checked with several paint dealers, including the
DuPont distributor, but no one recognizes ‘Dulux.’ Are
there any equivalents to these numbers? Jack Henderson, 1131
Carnelian St., El Cajon, CA 92021.
We comment:
We have heard this complaint before, and are unsure of an
answer. It appears to us that Dulux enamels are being replaced with
acrylics. However, we have also found that some distributors are
better than others, and have found that there is some interchange
of information out there as well. Unfortunately, not all
distributors seem to be willing to dig for the information, and as
yet, we haven’t found one that would share it. Perhaps some of
our readers might have some solution to the difficulty.
Waukesha History
Ralph L. Olmsted, 120 Guadalajara, New Iberia, LA 70560 sends
along some historical information on Waukesha Motor Company:
About 1906 three men in Waukesha, Wisconsin decided they would
like to start building gasoline engines, and named their company
after their home town. To gain some information they started out
repairing, washing, greasing, and storing automobiles. At night,
unknown to the owners of the autos, they would dismantle the
engines and look for their finer points, or areas where they could
stand improvement.
They built their first engine at a cost of $ 12,000. It was
installed in a boat and was a great success. Some of the first
engines had the gear train exposed, but in a very few years it was
enclosed. Most engines built before 1920 had no removable cylinder
head. The head and block were cast in one piece, and in pairs. Many
types of lube oil systems were tried but before 1920 most were
splash systems. In the 1920’s came the detachable cylinder
heads and pressure lubrication. Oil pressure was only 10-12 psi on
the early systems. I have a Model XA in a Six Speed Special
International truck, and this is the oil pressure that the manual
says it should have.
The governor on the early engines was of their own design, and
usually had weights mounted in the camshaft gear. This worked very
well.
In the early years Waukesha engines were built from 232 CID and
36 hp up to 1145 CID and 120 hp. They were available for gasoline
or kerosene, and were used in farm tractors, trucks, autos, and
construction and mining machinery. During World War One the Liberty
truck engines designed and built by Waukesha were a major factor in
the war effort.
In the 1920’s, Portable Rig Company of Houston, now Waukesha
Pearce Industries, started mounting Waukesha engines on portable
oil drilling equipment, and to this date, a large portion of
Waukesha production goes into the oil fields of the world.
Also in the 20’s Waukesha did a lot of experimenting on
cylinder head and combustion chamber design. For a few years they
sold the Waukesha-Ricardo cylinder heads for Model T Fords, Dodge
cars, and Fordson tractors.
Along about 1928 a group of engine manufacturers and oil
refiners known as the Cooperative Fuel Research Committee decided
that a standard fuel research engine was needed for testing octane
rating of gasoline. Several different engines had been used for
this purpose but there was no standard. Several engine
manufacturers were asked to design a one-cylinder engine
specifically for this purpose and Waukesha came up with a good
design. The compression could be changed with the engine running
from a very low to a very high ratio. It had overhead valves; head
and cylinder were cast in one piece. To change the compression
ratio, one would turn the crank on the side and the cylinder would
move up or down as needed, and the valve adjustment would remain
the same. This little engine was built extremely tough to take a
lot of detonation and abuse. These were known as the Waukesha CFR
engines. You could test gasoline on a CFR built in 1931 and one
built in 1989 and get the same results because there have never
been any changes made to the combustion chamber area.
This little engine received the ASME 49th Historical Mechanical
Engineering Landmark. It also received the First International
Landmark recognition by the ASME. I am the proud owner of a 1937
model CFR engine.
During the 1930’s and 1940’s Waukesha built engines of
the Hesselman design using fuel injection and spark plug ignition.
These were built in many sizes ranging from 201 CID and 33 hp up to
2894 CID and 300 hp. All were phased out by 1950.
In the 1938-44 period a small air-cooled two-cylinder gasoline
engine was built and used by Crosley in autos, motorcycles, and
snowmobiles, and also sold as power units. I have a power unit
engine, and they are not very popular.
From 1933 to 1935 Waukesha listed a four-cylinder steam engine
with a 6 ? x 7 inch bore and stroke, but I don’t know anyone
who ever saw one.
Diesel production, small in the 30’s, came on strong in the
late 40’s and 50’s.
LeRoi Engine of Milwaukee sold out its engine manufacturing
rights to Waukesha in the mid-1950’s. Some models were produced
for a few years and sold as Roiline engines. None of their
manufacturing facilities were taken over by Waukesha.
Climax Engine Company of Clinton, Iowa was also taken over by
Waukesha in the mid-1950’s, engine line, plant, and all. Some
engine models were produced for a few years and then the V8 and VI2
models were redesigned from the cylinder heads up and emerged as
Waukesha engines. All engine production at the Clinton plant was
known as Waukesha engines until it shut down. For a while a line of
two-cycle diesels were sold as Waukesha Cerlist and were sold for
military use.
Year 1962 almost everyone was trying to build gas and diesel
powered turbines, so naturally Waukesha came with one too. It was a
400 hp model and seemed to be too small for most jobs that normally
would use a turbine. It was a very nice and compact unit but
production ended in 1974-
One-cylinder engine production of Waukesha-design engines has
been mostly of the CFR engines, however in the mid-1950’s a 215
CID, one-cylinder model was put on field test. We installed one on
a pump unit for American Oil Company in 1955 and it ran fine for a
year. In the meantime, Waukesha had taken over LeRoi and Climax,
and they both had one-cylinder models. So, Waukesha scrapped its
own engine plan and recalled the one we were testing.
Seeing a need for a high speed diesel engine in 1971, Waukesha
took on Scania diesels built in Sweden. These were very fine
engines and were sold as Waukesha-Scania engines. Parts supply for
these was a problem at times, and the line was dropped by 1989.
One aspect of Waukesha history that really turns me on was in
1935 at Daytona Beach, Florida. A race car powered by a Waukesha
Comet diesel engine set an official land speed record for a
diesel-powered auto and this record was held for about a year. The
speed was 126 mph.
Current production engines run from a little four-cylinder gas
engine of 155 CID to a 16-cylinder diesel model with 14,377 CID
(cubic inch displacement) and 4,800 hp.
Waukesha Engine Division of Dresser Industries is well set for
the 1990’s, having to its credit a full line of accepted
engines and a good national and international manufacturing, sales,
and service organization. Now that I’m done writing this
article, I can get back to working on my Heider Model D which is
powered by a 1919 Waukesha Model R engine.
Modelmaker’s Corner
Tom Brennan, 21 Eads St., W. Babylon, NY 11704 sends along a
photo of his first odds-n-ends model. It was built from drawings in
Home Shop Machinist Magazine. Tom has also finished one of Arnold
Teague’s Aermotor 8-cycle models, and is working on a
Dettmer’s J.D. model. MM-1 is the freelance model; MM-2 is
Brennan’s first full-size engine, a 2 hp Jaeger.
MM-3 is a homemade Stirling hot air engine, built by Bob Fultz,
RR 2, Box 332, Clarksburg, WV 26301. It has a displacer cylinder
designed after the plans of William Cloutier. The displacer piston
is made of vent pipe and bonded together with J-B Weld. The fins
are made from flashing and are also bonded with J-B Weld. It is
interesting to watch it run due to the design of the linkage, but
it still maintains the ninety degree timing. By mounting the power
cylinder on top, it shows that the engine runs on the changing
temperature and pressure within the displacer cylinder.